Jedburgh Abbey is one of the four great abbeys built in Scotland’s border country during the Middle Ages. It was established as a priory of Augustinian canons around 1138. The brethren possibly came here from St Quentin Abbey, near Beauvais, France. The priory was raised to abbey status around 1154.

Augustinians were priests who lived a secluded and contemplative life, but who went forth from their cloister to minister to the people. Jedburgh eventually possessed about 20 parish churches.

Monastic life was mostly routine, but the abbey’s location close to the border with England inevitably brought it into the conflict between the two countries that bedevilled the later Middle Ages. During the Wars of Independence in the 14th century, the canons had to evacuate the premises. Further attacks in the 1400s were compounded by major raids in the 16th century. These and the Protestant Reformation of 1560 led to Jedburgh’s demise as a monastic institution.